Restarting to lose 4stone

Janeylouise1

love that Karion. Thanks for taking the time and answering my questions. I have had a weight problem since about 25 and im now 39, ive used every diet out there and I feel that cambridge is what I need. Im lucky in that ive never smoked. My hubby does and he has tried many times to stop but he always ends up back with it especially when life gets tough. We all have our vices.

Hope you have a good weekend. Its my first on cambridge so im finding it a tad difficult. Managed to stay away from the kebab and chips the rest of my family had this evening.

Silver Member

Hi babe
You have done so well.
just read how you have been doing the last year and to give up smoking and keep the weight off GREAT
As I say doing CD is hard but its the easy part realy as keeping the weight off is the hard thing and a for the rest of your life thing.You have found whot works for you,I just hope that when I get there I can follow your example.
Hope you have a good weekend.
love libbie x

Gone fishing

Personally, I don't think it is a self esteem problem. I thought it was once....it's so much easier to grab other peoples labels and make them your own and I've done that many a time through maintenance

Okay...my self esteem is low. It always has been low. It's not really a problem to me though. I know my place and all that

Mirrors I can't do, though the car mirror is the exception. Again, it's not a problem. I'm an ex-nun and mirrors were considered the invention of the devil in our convent. Okay...I don't believe that now, but have got used to not looking at myself. I don't need to love the outside of my body. I do think the inside is pretty amazing though

My aims were to be healthier. It was getting tiresome and difficult to live with. I needed to change that....and I did.

As for the maintaining part. I eat very healthily and enjoy my meals. I also snack on the odd unhealthy treat here and there, and it works. I feel great and have been here for 14 months.

When I posted the first post in this thread a couple of months ago, I was suddenly struck down (once more) with hugeness of my job as a normal eater for life.

I have an addictive personality. I am addicted to so many things. Thank god I've never taken to drink (like it...but can take or leave it). Today is the first day (again) that I try to defeat my caffeine addiction after noticing I drunk 3L of coffee yesterday. I've cracked this one before and I'll do it again, but it seems that everything I am addicted to isn't good for me

Maintenance isn't so hard for me any more. I trundle along, doing what I have to do and enjoy it most of the time, but I'm 50 and have a weight problem for many years. It will take a while to completely cure me (if ever). Meanwhile...I'll continue to trundle and every now and again I'll throw a paddy and think I can't do it....not forever anyway...and I'll ask for advice and support.

Thankyou for your thoughts inloka. Sorting me out is a bit of a mindfield and all views gratefully received

Gone fishing

I think everyone has addictions to some degree. Whether it's food, drink or habits - we use them as a crutch and security blanket. Coffee's an easy one to kick, as I've done it. Took me 3 days of serious headaches and 3 attempts. Then I realised I'd been drinking decaf for 2 days and had forgotten. I figured I'd kicked it. Have drunk decaf ever since.

I managed to kick it when I started Cambridge. Then I kicked the ciggies and filter coffee started appearing It's not too hard an addiction to kick compared to others I've had, but there's just that little bit inside me that tells me I deserve something I really enjoy. No alchy, no binges, no ciggies, no accumulating snacks. Worked through them all....feel I'm entitled to a filter coffee or two with pure caffeine. Still, it was getting a bit much (like 5 or 6+)

All tips gratefully received. I generally don't go for organic because of the price. With 2 teens and DH, it just gets too expensive, but I do grow some veg That's probably the closest I'd get.

I have written down a couple of my maintenance days if you haven't seen them. Click here

This is the sort of menu I've been using for this past 14 months. I have a 3 week plan that I roughly rotate.

I am a little restricted as I refuse to cook separate meals for the teen boys and they need loads of calories. Still....we have managed to incorporate all our needs quite nicely now, but as I say, all extra ideas are always welcome.

Oh....also refuse to do weird food like margarine, low cal yoghurt or anything that is normally quite natural but has been changed to make it low cal, if you know what I mean. Well, I do enjoy what I eat

I was suddenly diagnosed with liver disease and given medication to force my liver to behave normally. I was told there was no known cure for my disease and no knowledge as to its cause. I educated myself on the role of the liver (boy, was I shocked!) and switched to organic eating, ditching the meds. One year later, my liver had returned to normal and my doc and specialist were amazed.

Gone fishing

Excellent that you don't go for 'low-cal' foods. Exactly the same reasons I don't have them. I don't want laboratory-tampered food.

You sample diet looks superb, really balanced and nutritious. I would try to make some tiny changes:

Try to have a wholemeal pitta bread instead of the tortilla wrap, as the chances are it's made from refined white flour and makes the blood sugar shoot up, and higher in carbs.

Try to have wholemeal spaghetti (same reason as tortilla).

Try to cut out the Alpen bar.

Try to add something raw to every evening meal. A side salad would be great with your example meal (try raw baby spinach instead of lettuce). As we get older, our store of enzymes reduces. Raw food contains all the enzymes the body requires to digest that food. Heat kills the enzymes. So it becomes less of a burden to your system. You can add a little Extra Virgin Olive oil and lemon juice or balsamic on it, to taste.

There is a reason why I don't add these things. I do have wholemeal pittas some days, but try to keep things different from day to day or I get bored. This is the reason why I don't have salad again for dinner (even as a side dish), if I've had it for lunch. I think keeping it varied has been one of the reasons why I have been successful at maintaining my weight.

I have discussed the wholemeal spag on a number of occassions with the family, but its the one thing they can't abide. Since they eat healthily (for teen boys that is), I feel that I can let them have that one I also enjoy white spag more than wholemeal I'll try again with that one in a couple of weeks. Might be able to convert us all

I'm happy with my alpen bar. I still need my treats It's only 60 cals and packed with fibre. Do you think it's a bad thing?

Restarting to lose 4stone

I had a dream a while back that I had become obsessive about maintaining my weight so I wouldn't eat anything 'bad' for you and ate the bearest amount to keep me going for fear of putting on weight. This woke me up to the dangers of obsessing which is very me - hense I am always on the forum and thinking about what lessons I still might have to learn. My hope is that I have learnt enough about me to be able to eat a decent balanced diet most of the time so I can afford the odd naughty thing without it leading to me being out of control in my life

My weight went on due to my increased binging when times got tough. If I could stop binging (which I could for a max of about 3 weeks) then I actually lost weight at quite a rate without changing any other aspect of my diet.

I am hopeful but ever vigilant that I can beat the binging the majority of the time but I just won't know until I lose my last 9lbs and start reintroducing conventional food again.

I'm happy that the rest of my diet contains everything it should.

Yes I'm back to lose 6 stone for a third time. For goodness sake, do the maintenance this time!

Gone fishing

Thank you thecdthing. I've changed the title of my thread now as everything is going well

My weight went on due to my increased binging when times got tough. If I could stop binging (which I could for a max of about 3 weeks) then I actually lost weight at quite a rate without changing any other aspect of my diet.

I think this is what I've been trying to beat...and for the moment it's going well. I must admit that between diets, my binging was becoming an almost daily event

Now, if I have a binge, I lose it again without much effort. I am really working on stopping any binging though and I'm succeeding for now anyway.

I'm still fragile though, but getting stronger. Damn about the ciggie quit. Really threw me off course for a while, but not for too long.

I find it amazing how I can go weeks without doing anything stoopid foodwise, then all of a sudden I can lose the plot. Sometimes I can take it and know that I can get that control again. Other times, I feel that I'm doomed.

These days, life is good. I have control. I feel that I will have control forever..........watch this space

Gone, but who cares huh

Restarting to lose 4stone

I love reading posts about maintainance and how people are dealing with it because there are so few of them and I want to learn as much as posible for the next stage on my journey.

I plan to start maintainance diary once I get to goal. I am actually happy with my body now (well I will be after my skin has shrunk back and I do a bit more toning anyway) and am just losing the last 2lbs plus another 7lbs that my LLC said she put on during manaintainance and Karen advised I do too and then I'm there. I have actually adjusted my goal weight upwards because I don't want to go too far. My weight is coming off my skinny areas so by losing weight I am going further out of proportion and not looking as good for it.

It feels weird to think that I am now where I want to be and only am losing a buffer zone I'm just cruising through the diet now feeling like I am in limbo land waiting for the next stage to start. I can't wait to put my new found knowledge to the test

Yes I'm back to lose 6 stone for a third time. For goodness sake, do the maintenance this time!

Gone, but who cares huh

you know the good thing about this site is that there are lots of people at different stages, and they are doing it their own way, and while some of the stuff they do might not be your cup of tea, some of it might just inspire you, As long as it works for them its brilliant, and if you can pinch an idea or learn from them thats even better,

Queen of the Damned

Karion, I have always admired your tenacity, your determination and your willingness to share the good and the bad sides with us all. I adore the fact that on Minimins you have people who can share this stuff with you - I always felt bad that because I was in a different place I couldn't help/advise you.

I guess I just wanted to say 'don't go changing' - you are living proof that it can be lost and kept off!!

Gone fishing

Oh goodness DQ. I had more support from you than anyone in those dark days! Don't know what I would have done without your listening ear.

At that time, all other maintainers on other sites had either disappeared to get on with their lives (admirable!), or just went deathly quiet. Whether they were dealing with their own demons, put the weight back on or were dealing with maintenance in perhaps less than desirables methods....who knows.

I just wanted to know how to do it It was no good just being told to go away and eat healthily. I had done that and failed so many times.

Now I know that there were ways to help, but most of it comes from inside ourselves. To be honest, often I don't know how I'm doing it. Does anyone really know how they manage SS? It just happens until it doesn't. Then it's a case of sorting our why it isn't happening and deal with it like we do.

So something I have learnt, is that often there is nothing to say. We just get on with it. Other times, I need to talk about it. Perhaps I do need that pat on the back, because I'm forever doubting my own strength and just need a bit of backup now and again to keep me going

Other times, I want to just rant

Most of the time I want people to see that it can be done....and by someone who has failed so many times it's seriously embarrasing

Queen of the Damned

Maybe that's part of what makes it special - you're not Superwoman, you have had blips, binges and all sorts but you're still here, still maintaining - just makes it feel more doable. I think sometimes it can feel to many who are still on their journey that it takes a superhuman to make it to the end. You bring it all to the table - the good times, the hard times - and it really does make people feel as though they can do it too.

I guess, for me, your attitude has more impact than the people who don't seem to have struggled. I would rather listen to advice from someone who understands/appreciates what it is to feel like a failure, than someone who has forgotten just how hard it can be.